Oh, brothers: Elkhorn's Brysons help lead UW-Whitewater to Salem

UW-Whitewater senior guard Eric Bryson puts up a shot against Stevens Point's Stephen Pelkofer during a game at Whitewater earlier this season. Bryson, an Elkhorn native, and his younger brother, Drew, will play withe the Warhawks in the D-III Final Four this weekend.

More Warhawk siblings

Eric and Drew Bryson are not the only siblings who will both be playing in the Final Four for UW-Whitewater this weekend.

The Merg family will be split up but will do its best to keep tabs on the two teams from 700 miles away. Mary Merg will be making her second straight Final Four apperance with the Warhawk women, while brother Alex is back in Salem, Va., with the men.

Alex, a senior, averages 7.2 points per game and shoots 44.6 percent from beyond the arc. He has started all 31 games. He was also named to the WIAC all-defensive team and won the Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete Award. Merg has a 3.51 GPA while majoring in accounting and finance and minoring in information technology.

Mary, also a senior guard, leads her team in scoring at 13.7 points per game and averages more than three assists per outing. She is a first-team all-WIAC player and was named a co-recipient of the Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete Award. She has a 3.817 GPA while majoring in history and minoring in psychology.

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WHITEWATER--On a backyard basketball court in Elkhorn, Drew Bryson quickly learned his role as little brother.

Four years younger and always smaller than older brother, Eric, Drew never really stood a chance.

Today, the playing field is level—they both stand 6-foot-2. And for the first time ever, Drew and Eric are on the same team, though that has failed to quash Eric's big-brother mentality.

“I'm on him big-time,” Eric admitted Tuesday.

“I'm used to it,” Drew responded.

But these are no longer the driveway days.

Eric and Drew will play at the NCAA Division III Final Four in Salem, Va., this weekend as teammates for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

The Warhawks take on Illinois Wesleyan in a national semifinal game on Friday night. The national title game is Saturday.

“The excitement has really ramped up,” Eric Bryson said. “My parents are just glad because it's easy for them to be able to travel to games.

“And they think it's really cool that we're going back to the Final Four.”

Eric was named to the all-tournament team when Whitewater won the national championship in Salem in 2012.

Drew was just a junior in high school, along for the ride with his parents, Mary and Arnie.

“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “I remember thinking they were done when they got down by 18 points. But they started coming back and it was fun to watch. I wanted to be on the court with them.”

Two years later, he is.

UW-Whitewater coach Pat Miller says Drew Bryson probably didn't get as many recruiting looks as he warranted as a high-schooler, because many teams assumed he was heading to play with his brother for the Warhawks.

The younger Bryson has settled in nicely during his rookie season, playing in 22 of 31 games off the bench.

“I thought he would (play right away) just because I liked his size and athleticism,” Miller said. “He really plays well within himself. He doesn't try to do things he can't do.

“Eric's an ultra-competitive kid; he's got an edge to him. Drew's a really nice kid; he doesn't have that visible edge when he plays. Athletically, they're different—Drew's got better size.

“Eric became more skilled as he played, and our hope is Drew will become more edgy as he plays.”

Eric has become a mainstay in the Warhawks' lineup over the past few seasons. He's started every game this year and ranks third on the team, averaging nearly 12 points per game.

But Miller says the senior's game is about more than what shows up on the stat sheet.

"In terms of recognition and postseason stuff coming out, he's a very underrated player,” he said of the Elkhorn grad, who spent one season at Winona State and then transferred to Whitewater. “He'll get a critical loose ball, plays great defense, he'll make a big cut at a big time. He's got so many intangibles that will help you win, and that's really his value to this team and why he's been on so many good teams.”

The Brysons hope the best is yet to come for this Warhawks team.

But what if they were to lock horns in the backyard today?

“We haven't played in a while,” Drew says, “so I don't know.

“He's got to work on his feet,” Eric retorts. “He's too slow right now.”